How? (continued)
Pre-instructional planning is recommended for any cooperative learning activity so the appropriate technique can be used. With prior planning, educators are able to set up how groups will be formed and structure the task.

Before introducing the activity to students, it's best to provide a teambuilding or icebreaker activity. Upon introduction, educators must explain the task at hand and the criteria for success.

From there, the teacher is able to circulate through the room and assess both each individual and group as a whole. After completion of the task, groups should discuss how well they acheived their goal and set goals for next time.

The following are examples of cooperative learning techniques:

Think-Pair-Share

  1. Students silently think about a question posed by teacher.
  2. Students pair up to exchange answers/thoughts on the topic.
  3. The pairs then share their answers with other pairs or the entire group.





5S Brainstorming
Each student in a group of 5 is assigned a specific role to aid in the brainstorming process. Prompts from the teacher should be open-ended. The roles include Speed Sergeant (who encourages quick responses), Sultan of Silly (who encourages silly ideas), Synergy Guru (who encourages group members to build on others' ideas), Sergeant Support (who supports all ideas), and Secretary (who records all answers).

Number Frenzy
A class is divided into equal groups with each individual in a group assigned a number. Group members work together to answer a certain question prompted by the teacher so that each individual is able to answer if called upon. The teacher then calls out a number, and that number in each group is accountable for verbally expressing the answer.

Jigsaw
Students are organized into groups equal to the amount of station numbers. One student from each group goes to each specified station to learn something unique about the concept/task at hand. The students then return to their groups where they are required to teach everyone else what they learned. In short, each student is responsible for one piece of the puzzle which all other students don't have.


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